calendar display issue

Question

In bookings how can you get the two calendars to talk to each other if you see that appointments are booked but not showing as busy in the Microsoft calendar.

Answer 1

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you for reaching out.

To help Microsoft Bookings recognize appointments on the Microsoft 365 calendar and prevent time slots from appearing available, please follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Bookings.
2. Open the appropriate Shared booking page.
3. Select Staff.
4. Select the affected staff member, then choose Edit.
5. Turn on Events on Microsoft 365 calendar affect availability.

6. Select Save changes.

Once enabled, calendar events for that staff member should be considered when Bookings determines their availability.

Please test the connection by creating a Busy event on the staff member’s Microsoft 365 calendar, then confirm that the same time is no longer available on the booking page.

I hope this information clarified your concern. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you.

Thank you for your time and patience.

Answer 2

In Microsoft Bookings, this usually means Bookings availability and the staff member’s Outlook calendar aren’t aligned correctly.

Check these items:

1. In Bookings > Staff > select the staff member, make sure Events on calendar affect availability is enabled. If this is off, Bookings won’t use that Outlook calendar to block time.
2. Make sure the staff member has shared their calendar correctly:
   • Sign in to Microsoft 365 and open Outlook.
   • Select Share > Calendar.
   • Under People inside your organization, set My Organization to Can view when I'm busy.
   • Select Done.
3. Verify the Outlook appointment is marked as Busy. Calendar availability depends on the free/busy status. If an item is marked Free, it won’t block time.
4. If the service is assigned to multiple staff members, Bookings can still allow the slot if another assigned staff member is available. In that case, one person being busy does not always make the service unavailable.
5. If the issue is with old or removed staff, remove that user from Bookings > Staff. A removed employee can still remain in Bookings until deleted there.
6. If Bookings shows a sync error such as “This staff member’s calendar can’t be synced”, fix calendar sharing first. If there is an unidentified syncing error, it is typically transient and may resolve after a few minutes.

If the appointment appears in Bookings but not as busy in Outlook, edit the original Outlook calendar event directly and confirm the staff calendar permissions and free/busy settings first.

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References:

• Shared Bookings Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Add your out of office event to the Outlook calendar of others
• My bookings page is allowing customers to book appointments when I am busy - Microsoft Q&A
• Bookings - Editing a scheduled appointment - Microsoft Q&A